Cycling could be dropped from the Olympics if Lance Armstrong implicates the sport's governing body in a widespread doping cover-up, the International Olympic Committee has warned.

IOC member Dick Pound says his organisation may be left with no choice other than to take drastic action if Armstrong proved that the International Cycling Union (UCI) had acted improperly.

"The only way it is going to clean up is if all these people say 'hey, we're no longer in the Olympics and that's where we want to be so let's earn our way back into it,'" Pound said.

Pound, the former head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), made his comments after talk show host Oprah Winfrey confirmed that Armstrong had admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career.

The 41-year-old Armstrong yesterday gave a two-and-a half hour interview to Winfrey, his first since being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.

It will go to air on Friday (AEDT) and Saturday.

In promoting the interview on CBS last night, Winfrey said Armstrong "did not come clean in the manner that I expected".

"I didn't get all the questions asked, but I think the most important questions and the answers that people around the world have been waiting to hear were answered," she said.

"I can only say I was satisfied by the answers."

In a recent interview on 60 Minutes Sports, United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) chief Travis Tygart said that the UCI had wrongfully accepted a $100,000 gift from Armstrong.

"That [a possible cover-up] could be an even bigger story and that is still to come," Pound said.

"There will be a lot of people watching for that and if in fact there was assistance from the UCI and Lance describes it, that could be the real assistance he could give to the fight and result in a reduction of his life sentence [from competition]."

Cycling Australia says banning the sport from the Olympics would be wrong.

Chief executive Graham Fredericks says current athletes should not have to pay.

"Such an outcome as a result of any charge founded against the UCI leadership, I believe, would be patently inappropriate," he said.

"It would be punishing today's athletes for the sins of past administrators."

Should cycling be banned from the Olympics if the UCI is implicated? Have your say here.

The only way it is going to clean up is if all these people say 'hey, we're no longer in the Olympics and that's where we want to be so let's earn our way back into it'.

Dick Pound

CBS reported that Armstrong indicated he might be willing to testify against others.

"You have to wait to see to what degree he has admitted, to what degree he is prepared to help," Pound said.

"Some of the press reports I've seen say he had a lot of help from high cycling officials and he is willing to tell all about that."

WADA, founded after the Festina doping affair in the 1998 Tour de France, has long been critical of the UCI's handling of doping in the sport with Pound routinely slamming cycling bosses.

"The (UCI) is not known for its strong actions to anti-doping," Pound said.

"It was the same in weightlifting a few years ago - all of a sudden when you get right up against it things go fuzzy and they say, 'well, we can't punish innocent athletes in these sports by dropping the sport from the program.'"

The Canadian lawyer said any possible changes to cycling's status are unlikely to happen until after the next IOC presidential election, in August this year.

"I don't think under the current administration - [which] has only a year left - that anything that drastic would happen, but maybe under a new president would say 'alright, we've got this started now once and for all let's send out a message,'" he said.

Wiggins disappointed

Reigning Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins says Armstrong's admission is a "sad day" for cycling and will taint a whole decade of the sport.

"It'll be a great day for a lot of people and quite a sad day for the sport in some ways," he said.

It'll be... quite a sad day for the sport in some ways... because basically the 90s are pretty much a write-off now.

Bradley Wiggins

"I think that it's been a sad couple of months for the sport in that sense, because basically the 90s are pretty much a write-off now."

Former Armstrong team-mate Frankie Andreu says he feels vindicated by the cyclist's admission.

Andreu says Armstrong has been harassing his family for years since he spoke out about his drug use.

"He lies about everything, so for now for him to come out and actually change and say and admit that he was doping during his career, it's a big step," he said.

"What does it mean? I don't know. Where does it lead? I'm not sure, but it's a start."

'Confess under oath'

Current WADA director-general David Howman says Armstrong must confess to doping under oath and aid the fight against cheating if he hopes to mitigate his life ban.

"WADA has read with interest media reports suggesting a television 'confession' made by Lance Armstrong," Howman said in a statement.

"While WADA encourages all athletes to come clean about any doping activities they have been involved with or know about, these details must be passed on to the relevant anti-doping authorities."

Armstrong lost his record seven Tour de France titles along with most of his other cycling achievements when the UCI upheld the life ban meted out by the US Anti-Doping Agency last year.

Armstrong reportedly hopes a public confession could open the door to a return to competitive sport in marathons and triathlons.

"Only when Mr Armstrong makes a full confession under oath - and tells the anti-doping authorities all he knows about doping activities - can any legal and proper process for him to seek any reopening or reconsideration of his lifetime ban commence," Howman said.

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